Owners in talks with investors, say fan base is
there

The Detroit City Football Club averaged 2,878 fans a game last season at Cass Tech High School, including a season high of 3,398.

About the Detroit City FC

All Detroit City home
games this year will be live-streamed on the team's website,
DetCityFC.com.

The club's co-owners are Sean
Mann, who founded the semipro
Detroit City Futbol League in
2010; Alex Wright;
David Dwaihy; Ben
Steffans; and Todd
Kropp.

For the second
consecutive year, the club has qualified to play in the
U.S. Open Cup, a 91-team
tournament that includes the top amateur clubs in addition to
the professional organizations atop the U.S. soccer
organization pyramid. DCFC will play the
Michigan Bucks, in the inaugural
meeting between the clubs, at 7:30 p.m. May 13 at the Bucks'
home field, Ultimate Soccer Arenas in Pontiac. Semipro clubs
such as Detroit FC and the Bucks enter in the first round of
the cup, while the pro squads, including 17
Major League Soccer teams, begin
play in the fourth round. The tournament dates to 1914. MLS
clubs have won it every year but one since league began play
in 1996.

The organizational pyramid of
the seven-level, Chicago-based United States
Soccer Federation has three professional
divisions, with the 20-team Major League Soccer at the top.
Detroit City's league, the National Premier
Soccer League, is one of the two highest-level
amateur leagues in the pyramid. The federation is the U.S.
system's governing body for both amateur and pro soccer.
Unlike European soccer, U.S. teams do not jump up or down
levels based on winning.

— Bill
Shea

The Detroit City Football Club intends to transition from a fourth-tier semipro team to a higher-lever professional club after the season, its owners said.

And that could involve building a soccer-specific stadium in the city.

As the club prepares for its season opener against AFC Cleveland at 7:30 p.m. May 15 at Cass Tech High School, ownership remains in talks with investors, said team co-owner Sean Mann.

The goal is in 2016 to move to the 24-team Tampa, Fla.-based United Soccer League or the 11-team New York City-based North American Soccer League, he said. They're the third and second-tier levels of pro soccer in the U.S., respectively, underneath Major League Soccer.

"It's a matter of putting together an ownership group that has a certain net worth and a facility," Mann said. "It all comes down to money. We've developed a fan base that appeals to higher leagues. It makes it an appealing market. We proved we can get people to come downtown and pay to watch soccer."

Mann, 34, declined to name the potential investors.

Moving on up

DCFC's league, the National Premier Soccer League, is a fourth-tier league — and one of the two top amateur leagues — within the seven-tier Chicago-based United States Soccer Federation's organizational pyramid. The USSA is American soccer's governing body.

Unlike foreign leagues, it takes money rather than wins on the soccer field to move up to a larger soccer league in the United States.

USL teams typically have a $1 million annual operating budget, said Mann, whose full-time job is as a Detroit-based lobbyist with Lansing-based Michigan Legislative Consultants. NASL clubs cost $2 million to $3 million to operate.

This season, Detroit City will have a $400,000-plus budget, or more than double last season, he said. Ownership has said the team is profitable.

The new money comes from new corporate sponsors, such as the Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers Local Marketing Association and Henry Ford Health System each signing one-year deals to put their logos on the club's jerseys in 2015.

Troy-based Flagstar Bank also signed on this season as the club's official bank, and is underwriting its community outreach efforts.

The team sold its entire allotment of $50 season tickets ($65 with a 2015 season scarf) for its seven-game home schedule at Cass Tech High School. The club also plays a number of friendly, or non-league, games during the season.

The team also makes money from selling clothing, caps, scarves, stickers and other goods from its online store at DetCityFCstore.com. It also raised prices for merchandise and tickets this season.

The new cash is being spent to improve the soccer club, ownership said.

The team's lone year-round full-time staffer is general manager Donovan Powell, hired in 2013 to run the business side of the club. The influx of money has allowed the team to hire an in-season social media coordinator, Mann said.

The club uses a dozen paid staff members for games.

More games, more money

DCFC ownership said the club needs to be on the field more often in order to move up.

The team plays a 14-game regular-season schedule, with half on the road. It finished 8-3-3 last season, good for second place in the NPSL Midwest Region's Great Lakes West Conference. Lansing United won the conference.

"Our biggest holdup right now is we just don't play enough games," Mann said. "That kind of revenue stream, with our fan base in this market, is very doable."

USL clubs play a 28-game season, split between spring and fall, and NASL clubs play a 28-game season from March to September.

The Detroit City FC business model plan is to increase revenue by playing in a professional league, which ownership believes will increase ticket sales and ancillary revenue. It also will increase costs because unlike the semipro NPSL, the higher leagues use paid players.

Le Rouge, as the Detroit club is nicknamed, averaged 2,878 fans per game last season at Cass Tech, including a season-high 3,398 on July 11 against the Fort Pitt Regiment.

Detroit's average isn't incredibly far off the higher-level league averages: USL clubs averaged 3,114 fans per game in 2014, and NASL teams averaged 5,409 per game.

MLS clubs last year averaged 19,151 per game, the biggest average in the league's 19 seasons.

"We've had talks about building our own facility. It's a tougher sell than rehabbing an existing facility, but it's on the table, as well," Mann said. "We've kind of outgrown where we're at now."

Cass Tech can seat about 2,500 for a game. Mann said the club had to turn away 300 or 400 fans at some games last season.

DCFC is considering playing at Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck in 2016, and is studying the stadium's suitability and physical status, co-owner Alex Wright said.

Other potential locations were not disclosed.

Fans and players

Detroit City FC caught on with what owners say is a hipster fanbase from both the city and suburbs, but also includes suburban parents and kids.

Fueling the popularity is the club's success: It's 24-5-9 in its first three seasons, and won its division two seasons ago but lost in the divisional finals.

The winning is thanks to a roster that includes a number of college, amateur and professional veterans. Former Detroit City players in MLS include Adam Bedell of the Columbus Crew and Kofi Opare of D.C. United.

Ex-Crew forward Knox Cameron is on this year's Detroit City roster.

NPSL rosters consist of unpaid players, mainly high school, collegiate and former professional athletes. Because they're considered amateurs, athletes maintain their college eligibility while playing in the developmental league.

An above-average USL player is estimated to earn $2,000 a month, with some making $3,000 and more, The Washington Post reported in March, while Sports Business Daily reported in 2013 that the league's salaries range from $12,000 to $40,000 a season.

Some USL squads are owned by Major League Soccer, and many are affiliated with MSL clubs as developmental teams. The USL is seeking to become a second-tier league itself within the soccer hierarchy, the Post reported.

The NASL has average annual salaries of $15,000 to $30,000, with some players earning up to $100,000, according to a report from professional soccer networking service Fieldoo.

An outside observation

Greg Lalas

Soccer industry observers praise Detroit City's management of its growth and business plans.

"They've been approaching it the right way. They recognize that soccer is not only a business, or a franchise. It's a club," said Birmingham native Greg Lalas, vice president of content for MLS' digital arm and editor-in-chief of MLSsoccer.com from his home in Brooklyn, N.Y.

"The ownership group is very smart and careful and they don't go into anything blind," said Lalas, a former MLS player and brother of soccer hall-of-famer Alexi Lalas. "They want to make sure they do it right, and stay true to their ethos of being part of the community and city of Detroit."

He's met with Detroit City's ownership, and even buys season tickets every year to support the club despite never having attended a game.

"I wanted to support it. It's been really fun to watch from afar, at least," he said.

Lalas cautioned that turning professional will be a major step, and will require an expanded front office that can deal with soccer's unique business practices, such as exchanging players from overseas.

"It makes sense that Detroit City FC takes the next step. It's logical. There are clubs that start in some of the leagues at the lower levels that don't have such a fervent fan base," he said.

"It's a big leap going from semi-pro to a real professional situation. All of a sudden, it becomes a little more of a business. Players are under contract. You can pay for better quality."